A Man Moves Forward
by Spear-of-the-doomed
Summary: How does a person who sacrificed everything for his people handle a second chance? Itachi will now have to brave a new world that has no place for him. Will he forge friendships or be swept up into the system?
I Don't own any of the rights to Naruto or One Piece.

* * *

Having used the last of his chakra to implant a failsafe in Sasuke, Itachi fell to rubble beneath him. Itachi was certain he could feel his heart slowing as the moments passed by. He would be at peace shortly and would face any sort of judgment that waited for him. He did have an idea what kind of hell a waited him but he did not care as his soul was ready for that which was coming. A glint of hope in his heart said he could be with his mother but the logic of his mind said his soul was too stained to ever see her again. That would be the last thought that passed through his mind as his heart stopped.

* * *

A cold damp feeling crossed that back of Itachi's legs thinking it was death he just waited for the feeling to consume his body. It was not until he heard water splashing on rocks that Itachi realized that it could not be death. Feeling around with his hands told him that they were surrounded by cloth. His mind told him that he would most likely be so close to blind that he might as well say he was blind. Itachi was sure he was on his back so he slowly sat up. He felt something fall off of his face, but was unsure what it could be. Raising a hand to his face and rubbing it gently caused the most unexpected thing to happen. Itachi's eyes had opened for a brief flash and he saw a bright image flicker before him followed by a minor sting. His mind ran wild as this should not be possible as he had ruined his eyes in the last battle with his brother. Daring to open them once more he felt the sting of bright light in his eye, and seeing a grand view of the sea with open water stretching out as far as he could see.

It stole Itachi's breath for a few moments, the blue skys and clear waters of the ocean seemed to be a heaven on earth. This should not be cried Itachi's mind knowing that not only was he not anywhere near the ocean much less alive. Maybe he wasn't alive and the beach was just the afterlife. Itachi disregarded that thought as he would have wanted nothing more than to see his family. So what was this, looking around to see his was just half way in the surf on a beach he did not know was something was he unsure how to feel about. The next things that his mind took notice of was the fact that he was once again dressed in his Akatsuki cloak. A quick check of his resources showed that he had all of his equipment and had a sword much like his old Anbu issued one laying to his right. Looking down in the surf was his old bamboo hat. Taking a kunai out, he gently stuck the back of his hand to not only feel pain but to also realize that this was not a genjutsu.

Itachi was in odd state of shock as the reality of the situation sank into his mind. Not only was he alive but he was also free where ever he was. ' _Was this some form of second chance to live?'_ was the thought that pasted though his mind. Rising to his feet, Itachi knew if it was then he would live how he wanted. He checked his chakra to see if this new life would be one where he could use his ninja skills. Feeling the warmth of his flowing chakra was a comfort to him. Itachi picked up his hat and the sword. Unsheathing it he inspects the sword, the blade was about 65 cm in length with a slight curve to the blade making it an uchigatana. The guard had a black metallic finish and grip was a crimson color. The curve of the blade was a little different to his old sword but it would make no real impact on his style. Turning to face inland, Itachi noticed huge cactus like mountains being the dominate feature. He was unsure if those were cactus or something else.

Itachi began his search for people if there was any. The thing that bothered him was the fact that he had no idea where to start or which direction to go in. It only took a short while for him to realize that he was on an island. This could mean two bad things: one made him afraid he was on an island that would not support life and two he was marooned with no one. Continuing on his march Itachi noticed smoke on the horizon.

After dashing toward the smoke showed Itachi a sight he was not expecting, a ship was on fire about four hundred meters out at sea. This was too much of a bad sign to ignore. A row boat not far from the burning ship headed back towards the island. Itachi knew that whoever was on it was trying to cover up something that was not meant to happen. He had seen some things and done some things to alter how people would see events or totally erase them. For now he would observe the people and try to gather as much information as he could.

Itachi using the skills he possessed approached that town that boat had docked at. Using his shinobi stealth he quickly neared that small group that came from the ship. Itachi had to admit that the group was a stereotype of what people would think would be a group of outlaws, but Itachi with held judgment until he knew more.

"Thank Kami that's over with. Damn Yosuke just had to open his mouth at the wrong moment and the merchant would have to piece it together that the goods were not of our crafting," stated one of the boat men as he tied it to the dock. Itachi's mind quickly analyzed the sentence and came to two conclusions. The group was ether pirates that had taken the town over or the town was abandoned and pirates put on an act to lure their prey into a trap. Itachi knew he could not trust any of the villagers, be they man, woman or child (if there was any).

"It's not like it mattered anyway at least this way we have all their food and water. And didn't even have to pay or trade anything in return," chuckled another as they walk off. The fact that this one had said water was clear indicator that there was not a clean spring on the island. Itachi had hoped that there would be so his presence would go unnoticed until he was ready to leave. If food and water was so much of a commodity on the island they would have tight restrictions on them and this may be guarded heavily by a group.

Itachi quickly dediced it was for the best if he left the town and stayed out of view. If whoever was in charge was here for long enough maybe they no long checked the island for people. It would be the only sort of protection that Itachi could hope for without alerting them of his presence. Information at this point was crucial if he made one move that was wrong he would be dragged into a fight that he was unsure if he could win.

* * *

In the week that followed was an odd chain of realizations. The first one was that the people on the island were part of some sort of bigger organization. What that meant Itachi didn't have any base to come to any conclusions to their business except that it was one that was not legal in any way. This wiped any feeling of guilt away when he stole food and water from them.

The next shock was the fact that he was not in his world anymore, but that should have not been a real surprise to him. One thing he also borrowed was some books from the people. He did return the books after he had read it meticulously for its content but he doubted that anyone missed them from the amount of dust on the shelves. The knowledge they held was in many ways was interesting but also strange. There was a World Government but how it came to be was the most odd the thing about it. The books had said that the World Government was born after the Void Century. The Void Century was a period of history that was forgotten but Itachi took it as a sign that the World Government wanted the period of history to be forgotten and maybe had agents who worked to keep it that way. The world was divided into four main seas each named after one of the cardinal directions and where he was now the Grand line. None of the seas had any country of his home continent he could only assume that this was not his world.

Itachi was right about the fact that no one was patrolling the island and since he was not in the town he was safe hiding outside of Whiskey Peak as it was named. There were two watch towers that were for watching the horizon but he was sure he was unseen in his infiltrations. He was sure his thefts of food and water was noted as someone had tried to find out who was the culprit or culprits. The problem was that Itachi's level of stealth was too high for them to ever catch and he was sure someone was very mad. This lead to a problem Itachi knew that someone was going to get lucky if he was to stay here much longer so Itachi thought it best that he find some way off the island. This was not going to be easy as there was a ship on the island but Itachi knew that it was guarded at all times. He hoped that a ship would come that he may steal the smaller vessel while all the attention was drawn to that crew. This was not without problems if he tried to sail away he had no knowledge of where to go afterward and a limited food supply made it more dangerous.

Luck it would seem was on Itachi's side, a ship was sighted heading towards the island and the citizens were preparing for their arrival. Sticking to the shadows he made an approach to watch as the town greeted the crew of the small vessel. The captain was a little under average height. He was wearing a red vest, blue pants, sandals, and a straw hat. The look on the captain's face made him instantly think of Naruto. The first mate was man with green hair and around Itachi's height. He wore a white shirt, dark green pants, a lime colored haramaki that three katanna hung form, a heavy pair of boots and a bandana around his bicep. The next one was a girl with light red hair and she was shorter then Itachi. She wore a black and pink tank top and orange miniskirt. Then a blonde haired man wearing a black suit with a necktie and a pair of polished black shoes followed the girl. The last was a strange looking fellow with a huge nose and black hair, a cap with what looked like lens added to it, a pair of brown overalls, an oddly shaped bag hanging by a shoulder sling and a white sash at his waist. After seeing the group Itachi could not help but think of this crew as a bunch of kids playing adventurer.

Itachi weighted his options carefully as he watched the mayor greet the group. This group of young adventurers may be the safest way off the island. The problem was they were too trust and already in the trap of the town. There was no way to alert them of their plight without being seen, so Itachi would test them by having them get caught in the trap. They fight their way out or die by the town's people. It may have been cruel but he saw no way to change the outcome. If they lived Itachi would sneak on the ship and wait for the next port, but if they died Itachi would take their ship and sail away from the island.

A few hours past as Itachi stood overlooking the town, he wondered when the citzen would strike. Then a quick movement was seen as a fight broke out, this was the beginning of the test. Watching carefully Itachi noticed it was the swordsman who had started the fight. The town was throwing wave after wave of people at the swordsman but he was showing that his talent and skills had them outclassed. Cheap tricks and sneak attack proved to be useless against the swordsman. The swordsman style was an odd one as he used two blades with an additional one in his mouth. Itachi was sure if a fight was to happen between them Itachi would soundly defeat him. Itachi had also noticed that the girl of the crew was out and watching the fight as well. The fight the town had give the swordsman seemed to be over and a group of four seem to be the only ones left.

The four looked out of place as each looked like they too much individuals then some organization. Itachi had seen two of them before as they were regulars from the town. The woman was tall and looked like a professional body builder while the man had an unreal sized hair curled with a large round body. The two new ones were a blue haired woman riding what looked like a large duck and a red haired man that wearing what looked like a crown. The woman on the duck seemed to charge forward only for the duck to keep running. The man with the crown pulled out a pair of clubs and began to strike at the swordsman. Itachi saw no way for the group to take the swordsman so Itachi decided that he would move the remaining crewmembers to the ship and await the others return.

Itachi silently entered the bar but only saw the blonde man and the long nose. If the straw hat wearer was out helping the swordsman then their victory was assured. Grabbing the two sleeping members Itachi made his way to the ship. The two had a very odd ways of sleeping long nose had a very nasal breathing and the blonde would randomly say 'Nami-chan' in his sleep. Once boarded the two were gently place on the deck. Itachi didn't want to be seen until after the crew was underway fearing that the crew would refuse to sail until he left the ship. His thoughts were interrupted when a series of explosions echoed out. Not wasting any time Itachi sat down near the figurehead and cast a camouflage genjutsu to hide himself. He soon after saw that the ship the town's people had docked began sailing only to explode shortly after it departed. The duck the blue haired woman rode on was the first to get on the ship. Next to arrive on the ship was the swordsman; he noticed his crewmates asleep on the deck and shouted that back to the others that the two of them were on the ship. He then proceeded to kick both of them to awaken them (the blonde was kicked harder than the long nose).

"What the hell Zoro?" the blonde shouted at the now named Zoro.

"How did you two get on the ship?"

"Huh?" said the long nose looking around. "I don't know. I remember falling asleep in the bar but nothing after. What about you Sanji?"

"Same thing Usopp, I don't know how we got on the ship," said Sanji.

"We'll figure that out later get the ship ready to depart," command Zoro. As the two broke off to ready the ship.

Moments later the straw hat wearing one arrived.

The red haired woman and blue haired woman came but were in a conversation.

"But I can't leave him here…" said the blue haired woman.

Zoro stopped, look at them and said "What's wrong?"

The redhead looked at him and said, "She says her duck is missing and won't come even after whistling."

"You mean him?" Zoro said as he pointed at the duck. "He was on the ship before even me." The duck raised a wing and quacked.

"That's where you are!?" was the statement the two women said at the same time.

After getting on the ship the vessel was departing. Itachi was going to wait a little longer so to be further out to water before showing himself. He watched carefully and listened to the crews calling out to learn the names of the people on the ship. Itachi's honed instincts quickly alerted him to a scantily clad woman with dark haired snuck onto the ship from what looked like a huge tortoise. The dark haired woman did so by making hands appear on the side of the ship to pull her up. While Itachi had seen many things in his life, but that was a power he had never seen or heard of before.

From her perch of the railing the dark haired woman said, "Be careful not to crash your ship on the rocks near the shore. And congratulations on your escape." The crew of the ship instantly tensed and prepared to fight. With a half hearted smile she said, "I must tell you Miss Wednesday, I meet with Mr. 8 just a little while ago…"

Vivi face changed to a haunted look. "Are you saying…" Vivi paused to take a shaky breath. "It was you who did that to Igaram!?"

"Hey, what're you doing on our ship?" Luffy asked in an angry tone.

"What are you doing all the way out here, Ms. All Sunday?" asked a paniced Vivi.

Nami interrupted, "Who is it this time? Whose partner is she?"

"She is Mr. 0's partner…! She was the only one who knew his identity. Which is why Igaram and I tailed her, to find out who the boss was," stated Vivi.

"Well technical," Ms. All Sunday said, "It was more like _let_ you tail me."

"Oh, so she is a good guy," stated a clueless Luffy.

"I already knew that!" said a now angry looking Vivi. "And I bet it was you who told the boss who leaked his identity."

"Oh, so she is a bad guy!" stated a less confused Luffy.

Itachi was not sure if Naruto was that dumb. Luffy had to have some other skills that must have made him captain because it was surely not for his brain power.

"Just what exactly is your objective?" angrily asked Vivi.

"Now, now… No need to get so worked up." Ms. All Sunday said in a calm voice. "I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate… and it was too amusing to observe," she said as small grin appeared on her mostly emotionless face. "A single princess who foolishly thinks she can take on the entire Baroque Works organization and save her kingdom…"

A look of unbridled rage appeared on Vivi's face. "Don't you dare underestimate me!" she shouted.

In a flash it seemed all the crew was armed for a fight with her. Sanji with a weapon Itachi was unfamiliar with and Ussop with a slingshot were on opposite sides of her.

"Hey, do you understand what's going on?" asked Ussop looking to Sanji.

"No," replied Sanji, "but what I do know for sure is that this woman is a threat to my lovely Vivi."

"Would you please mind, not pointing such dangerous weapons at me?" asked an irritated Ms. All Sunday. While she asked, two hands had grown from the wall behind her and pushed them over the railing. Only because of Itachi's point of view did he see one of the hands. The rest of the crew was shocked to see them thrown over the railing.

"Is it a devil fruit?" ask Zoro.

Itachi had read and hear from the citizens some odd things about the devil fruit. Most of it was too incomplete for him to make any kind of judgment about the powers. Itachi seeing Miss All Sunday's power first hand could see how some people would want that kind of gift. If the problem of sea water was true then the power in Itachi's opinion was barely worth it. It was odd, why be at sea if it was one of your weaknesses?

"What ability does she have?" asked Nami.

"Whoa she is a real beauty," exclaimed Sanji. Somehow Itachi just knew this guy was a pushover to a pretty face.

"Fu Fu Fu… no reason to get so riled up," Miss All Sunday stated in a calm and somewhat dismissive voice. "I haven't come here on any orders nor do I have any reason to fight you." Another of her hands grew out of Luffy's back, grabbing his straw hat and flinging at her. "So you are the captain of the Straw hat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy.

" _Gimme Back My Hat! So you are trying to pick a fight with us now, are you?"_ roar Luffy. It was rare that Itachi had seen someone go so quickly into a rage over an item, so it must have been a very important thing to him. " _Now I have decided to see you as an enemy, so come at me!"_

"How unfortunate…" said Miss All Sunday as she placed the straw hat on top of her hat. "Small-time pirates having to look after a princess targeted by the entire Baroque Works Organization… and a lone princess having to entrust herself to a few small-time pirates. But above all, how unfortunate the route pointed out by your log pose is, Little Garden. Even if I was not to lay a single finger on you, it is more likely you will never reach Alabasta. Without even meeting Crocodile, the curtain will close on your mission and you lives."

"As if we would just roll over and die. Now give me back my hat" fired back Luffy.

"Yeah how dare you, y-you big meanie" cried back Ussop from behind the mast.

"How old are you" ask Zoro.

"Enough howling, anyone can put on a brave front," state Miss All Sunday. "Yet to know of the difficulty ahead and still rush in is an act fit for fools." Then she tossed back Luffy's hat and something else at Vivi.

"An Eternal Pose?" stated an unsure Vivi.

Itachi had read in one of the books about the Eternal Poses. They were specially tuned compasses that would always point to one of the islands of the Grand Line. He was not a fool if that compass had been tampered with it would not doubt lead them to a place that be too far for them to interrupt the plans of Baroque Works.

"You'll be able to skip over your future troubles with that," said Miss All Sunday. "The neddle of the Pose points to an obscure uninhabited island located right before Alabasta. Moreover, the route you will be traveling on is unknow to Baroque Works, so you won't be followed by anyone either."

"What is she not a bad person then," asked Nami.

"Why would you do such a thing for me?" asked Vivi.

"It's probably a trap…" Zoro said in a dry sarcastic voice.

"Oh I wonder about that," replied Miss All Sunday.

There was a moment of silence while the crew weighted their options.

"Enough wasting time with that," stated Luffy. He reached over to Vivi grabbing the pose and without hesitation crushed it in his hand.

"Are you an idiot," raged Nami while giving Luffy a flying kick to the face. "She came all the way out here to give us the safest route to Alabasta. What are you going to do if she turns out to be a nice person?"

"Don't you dare think you can choice the path of our journey," stated Luffy in a mildly angery voice.

"I see, how unfortunate…" replied a mildly amused Miss All Sunday.

"She blew up the mayor with awesome hair so I hate her," Luffy said in a low angry voice.

"Well I don't dislike bold men," said Miss All Sunday. "Let us meet up again if you survive."

"I don't wanna," stated Luffy.

Miss All Sunday calmly walked to the side she came from, and then jumped off the ship to the back of the tortoise. She was quickly out of sight. The pirate crew took a collective sigh of relief. Itachi saw this to be the moment of action.

Itachi stood up, took off his hat and cancelled his genjutsu. "It was probably best that Luffy destroyed that log pose so we were not tempted to take that route."

"Yeah but even then he shouldn't have done it in front of her. Now she will know that we aren't going to that direction," stated Nami. "Waaiit…" she turned around to face the new voice, "WHO ARE YOU?" There stood a cloaked stranger with a bamboo hat in his hand. She knew that this person was good if he had gone this long without being noticed.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi and I mean you not harm," he said with a calm even tone. "I am just looking for a way off that island."

"How do we know if we can trust you," said Zoro. This man was dangerous if Zoro's sense were right. The one thing that said he was a danger was the look in his eyes only Hawkeye had eyes that sharp. He wasn't sure when this guy got on the Merry but he was sure that whoever he was could cause them many problem if was an enemy. The man was armed with a sword but he had not drawn it.

"I was the one who brought those two onto the ship while the rest of you were busy with the people of Whiskey Peak," replied Itachi as he pointed to Sanji and Ussop.

"I don't think I ever saw you there, so how did you end up there unless you joined Baroque Works," ask Vivi. Hearing this man talk reminded her of Pell, he was calm and in control of himself. In fact much of his demeanor was similar to Pell. That thought was telling to trust him.

"I was marooned on the island and since the people were too busy watching the direction of Reverse Mountain that they were unaware I was even there," said Itachi. "The fact that this was the first ship to come by is good for me. When I saw them burn the merchant's ship I knew they should not be trusted."

"I don't know guys this guy seem kind of sketchy to me, like he will steal the ship from us," said Ussop. The way Itachi talked and the look on his face reminded him of Captain Kuro but with none of the disgust. That and the fact that none of them saw him on the ship until now put Ussop on edge.

"Yeah I don't think we should trust for all we know he could be an agent of Crocodile's to keep track of us," added Sanji. Someone just appearing on the ship was too coincidental for his taste. Plus the fact that this guy might try to seduce Nami and Vivi was too much risk for him.

"You can search me but you won't find any kind of communication device on me," said Itachi. "I only planned to stay until you make port next anyway."

"No I don't think we need to. This guy seems okay to me so let him stay till we get to next city," said Luffy. Luffy was not sure what to make of Itachi but something inside of him told him not kick of the ship. A part of him wanted to see what kind of person he was to judge if he wanted him on the crew.

"Well you are the captain so if you don't want to kick off the ship that's fine," said Nami in a tired voice. "I just want to get some sleep. Come on Vivi, you can stay with me."

_End of Chapter_

Wow this was a beast for me it took me more than a year. I am not a good author because I don't have the determination and I rarely have the vision for an entire plot (note I can start with a basic story outline but after that I lose direction). The reason I typed this out was I couldn't find a good Itachi transferred to One Piece story written in a long time. So if anyone wants to write this one let me know.


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